Remember Me
by Pantherlily86
Summary: On her 16th Birthday, Sakura finds that everything she knows is just falling apart in front of her eyes. After receiving a katana from Kakashi, she gets visions and people claiming that she's a shinagami, is she losing her mind or are these people dressed in black for real? And Who's this person she can't quite remember in her visions? HitsuSaku. Oneshot. Rated T just in case.


**So, I've been reading wayyy too many HitsuSaku fanfics and thought I'd give it a try. And when the idea popped up, the story just began writing on its own. Well, here it is!**

**Pairing: Haruno Sakura and Hitsugaya Toshiro**

**Summary: On her 16th Birthday, Sakura finds that everything she knows is just falling apart in front of her eyes. After receiving a katana from Kakashi, she gets visions and people claiming that she's a shinagami, is she losing her mind or are these people dressed in black for real? And Who's this person she can't quite remember in her visions?**

**Words: 5733 Words**

**Disclaimer: I own not Naruto or Bleach. If I did, just imagine the possibilities… *drools***

* * *

Sakura smiled as the wind blew through her hair, jumping through the trees towards the training grounds. She was so excited! Ever since Kakashi-sensei had given her birthday present this morning, a katana, she had been especially excited to give it a swing at the training grounds (since it was her day off and all).

She landed gracefully and walked towards the shade of a tree to inspect her new sword closer. She plopped down and sat the katana on her lap. The scabbard or the _saya_was black lacquered and beautifully crafted, with vine-like designs spiraling towards the top where she held up the hilt for closer inspection. The hilt was ebony with cherry blossom designs carefully carved into the hilt, all meticulously done. Sakura admired the blade as she pulled it out of the scabbard. It was stainless and almost white in the light, unlike any ordinary silver shine a normal blade would be.

As the pink-haired girl stood up, she had to remind herself to thank Kakashi-sensei one day. She'd find out when the next book of his favorite series would come out and gift it to him in exchange for his wonderful gift.

After Sakura had finished her warm-up, she took her blade in hand and drew it out of its sheath. She stared quietly and decided to start with simple swings. As she lifted up her katana and swung it down, she suddenly blanked out for a second.

* * *

_She was tired and sweating like hell. But she was satisfied. She had just finished her training and she could feel herself getting stronger by the day. The pink-haired girl trudged through the empty halls of the academy, holding her wooden _bokken _in one hand, while using the other to support her slow walk towards her room._

_Her uniform was ripped in some places, where her _kido _had accidentally back-fired on her when she had a slip of the tongue while chanting the incantation. A mistake she wouldn't do anymore. She'd have to use her spare uniform while she would have to mend the one she wore now._

_And it was on her way towards her room, all dirty, sweaty and sore from training that she encountered __him. It was _him_. What was he doing here? And he saw her like this, how terrible!_

_He stood directly in the middle of the hall, blocking her from going any further._

_"Haruno, what exactly are you doing here so late?" She was mesmerized by his intense turquoise eyes staring at her. She could only muster a grin before replying._

_"Well, I could ask you that too..." She replied, a dangerous glint in her eyes, a tell-tale sign of the challenge she presented him. They stared at each other a while longer, before he finally sighed._

_"Let me walk you to your room, Haruno. You look like you could collapse anytime soon," he said, slowly walking towards her exhausted form and putting her arm (the one she used to lean against the wall) around his shoulder and snaking his arm around her waist. She hoped he couldn't hear her heart beating fast. She prayed he didn't, it was already embarrassing enough he had caught her in the halls after curfew (being the goody two shoes she presented herself to be...). But no matter what, she'd enjoy this warmth he presented her for as long as she could._

_"Thank you, ...-kun."_

* * *

And then she was back, in the training grounds and staring at her katana. Well, that was weird. She was pretty sure that wasn't a memory, or was it…? It seemed surreal, but it felt as if it were true. She just knew that such a place and person existed, without a doubt, but her rational mind was telling her the opposite.

The young girl decided to ignore that feeling, for gathering her energy, energy she couldn't exactly call _chakra_. She knew that deep down that it felt wrong, what she had in her was not chakra, but it was definitely something akin to chakra. She had never told anybody at all, for fear of being alienated (It was bad enough she had pink hair! The village didn't need a loony sprouting up declarations of having some weird mutated form of chakra…). Nevertheless, it (whatever energy it was that she harboured) made a good replacement for chakra. She gathered her energy and passed it down into her blade.

Then she blanked out again.

* * *

_This time, her breathing __laboured__, she leaned against him for support. It was them against a dozen stray hollows that_ appeared_ in Karakura town. They had killed off half their numbers, yet more still kept coming._

_"Heh, don't you think we should go all out now?" She addressed the white haired boy behind her, who was also using her as support._

_"I don't see why not, Haruno," he replied stoically._

_"Man, stop calling me Haruno, you make me feel like my dad or something. I feel old! Just call me Sakura, ...-kun,"_

_"Hmph, only when you start addressing me as __taicho," At his reply, she pouted. "But don't I get that privilege since I've known you since... Forever!"_

_The hollows were getting agitated now, especially being ignored and decided that they would attack now. The two shinigami settled their differences and stood ready to face the hoard of hollows, now twice the numbers as before, when they were distracted._

_"Let's settle this later, ...-kun," a feral grin upon the pink-haired shinigami's face. A matching smirk appeared on the handsome boy's face as well._

_"Sit upon the frozen Heavens, Hyourinmaru!"_

_"Bloom of the heavenly flowers, Sakura-hime!"_

_Simultaneously, the two shinigami began purifying the hollows._

* * *

Sakura sat on the ground, confused. What was happening to her? These flashes of... Of... _Whatever it was_. It would drive her insane! So, she packed up and decided that she'd just go see Tsunade-shishou and see if she could tell her anything about these weird flashes.

Her journey to the Hokage's tower was pretty short, considering all the thoughts running in her head, and her worry of blacking out while she was jumping. Which turned out she had nothing to worry about, as she made it to the tower completely unscathed.

She entered and greeted the receptionist, who just smiled back at Sakura. She made her way up the steps slowly, enjoying the view of the village. Somehow, she felt that this might be one of the last times she would see her village like this. How absurd! What thoughts to be running through her head during her birthday… She shouldn't think pessimistic thoughts, no.

When she reached Tsunade-shishou's office, she gave a knock before entering into her shishou's office. The young medic found her shishou sprawled out on her desk, sleeping with a sake bottle in her hand. Sakura smiled softly, there was something so endearing about her shishou, she couldn't put her fingers on it. Suddenly, there was a flash in her mind and an image of a buxom strawberry blonde woman clad in a _yukata_ with _hakama_ pants flashed through her head. Who was that? Why was she so familiar? The image disappeared as fast as it came, and Sakura just sat down in the chair directly across from Tsunade-shishou.

Just as she was about to wake her mentor up, out of nowhere, two paper doors appeared and opened. Out came people dressed in black uniforms, consisting of a black _yukata_ and _hakama_ pants. There were 4 of them in total, and they surrounded her. Sakura panicked and did the first thing she could. She called out to her mentor.

"Tsunade-shishou!"

Her alarmed tone had gotten the attention of her shishou, and she was waking up slowly, uncomprehending. To Sakura's left, she saw one of the strangely dressed people approach her.

"Please calm down, Haruno-sama. We do not mean any harm; we have come to escort you back. If you would quietly follow us back now…"

"Who are you?" she asked, nervously wishing her shishou would hurry and get a bearing of her surroundings and get rid of these people. The man she addressed looked at her quizzically, before turning towards his other comrades. In turn, they just shrugged back at him, equally confused.

"Err, Haruno-sama, we were not informed that you could not…" before he could finish his sentence, Sakura sighed with relief when she realized Tsunade-shishou had awoken up.

"Tsunade-shishou, hurry and get rid of these people!" Tsunade gave Sakura a weird look.

"What people, Sakura?" Sakura froze, and she looked at each of the 4. Each gave her a strange look in return. The only female of the group stepped up, and as gently as she could, touched Sakura on the arm while Sakura stood frozen stiff.

"Haruno-sama, how is it that you talk to the living?"

"…The living?" The feeling of horror just kept rising in her. Was this woman implying that she was… She couldn't say it. She felt sick.

"Oh, this is worse than we thought…" The male who addressed her first spoke up. He seemed to be the leader.

"Sakura, who are you talking to?" Tsunade asked.

"Sishou, are you telling me you can't see these 4 people dressed in black?" Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

"Sakura, are you feeling alright? You're scaring me…"

"Haruno-sama, under the orders of sou-taicho, we have been ordered to bring you back to Sereitei. At all costs," At that, the leader had her in his arms and she was falling unconscious. The last thing she heard was her shishou screaming out her name and then everything went blank.

* * *

"…_confirmation…Haruno Sakura… vitals… good…"_

"…_remember… life in… as shinigami…"_

"…_may never… memories…"_

"_Sakura."_

The sound of her name being spoken in such a sad tone woke her out of her dream scape, although a little hazy. She opened her eyes a little, and her eyes scanned the room. Everything she saw was blurry but her mind registered in on a woman whose hair was braided down her front, a buxom blonde and finally, they fell on a teen, roughly her age or older with spiked up white hair and intense turquoise eyes. Then, she blacked out again.

* * *

_She was walking around in an office, carrying a tray of tea, bringing in towards the only occupant in the room. She smiled softly; he was always so focused when he did his paperwork. He was very meticulous about it, how everything just had to be right. And he also needed to learn that he needed breaks._

"_Hey, I brought you some tea," She said, not really wanting to disturb him doing his work. It was always cute when she'd catch him crinkling his nose in annoyance or the way his eyebrows drew together in frustration. One time, when delivering him some strongly brewed tea (since he had stayed up all night trying to finish his paperwork and never came back to the barracks) she found him asleep at his desk, with such a peaceful look on his face. She remembered that on that day, she had hauled him to the couch (gently!) and finished his paperwork for him. He had deserved the rest._

_She set the tray on his desk and poured him some tea. She handed him the tea cup which he gladly accepted. This is when the pink-haired shinigami would settle herself as comfortably as she could on his desk and start rambling about the on-goings and gossip going around Sereitei. Today she was telling him about what new experiment Kurotsuchi Mayuri had started, the 11__th__ division's training getting out of hand (again) and about a rumor spreading that something bad was stirring up in Rokungai. But rumors being rumors, she just rambled on to him about it for fun. Oh, how she should have heeded that rumor._

_He always sat there, listening to all she had to say, never interrupting unless she asked for his opinion, sipping quietly on his tea. It always seemed he relaxed around her and she felt happy she could have such an effect on this man._

_After she finished her ranting (which was when he always finished his tea), she proceeded to jump off his desk. Unfortunately for her, her hakama pants got snagged to some splintered part of the desk and she could feel herself falling face forward. Waiting for the untimely fall, she could only close her eyes. When she finally did open her eyes, she realized the floor was still at a far distance from her and that was when she realized what had kept her from falling. There were arms around her waist. More specifically, his arms. _

_They were standing in front of his desk, her body now pulled up and leaning into his chest. Sakura finally registered the position and shifted slightly, her face red and her heart rate speeding up. The young man holding her chuckled, and turned her in his arms, so she now faced him. Sakura stammered unintelligible words, as he continued chuckling. The pink-haired girl finally came up with a topic._

"_Ah, uhmm, I just remembered! …-kun, are you going to the Hanami festival next week in Rokungai?" She asked, daring to look him in the eye._

_He smirked, leaning closer to her face. She held her breath. Oh My Spirit King, he was inches away from her. And then he was suddenly whispering in her ear._

"_I'll be there, Haruno,"_

_And as the words left his mouth, she was gone like the wind too. Flash-stepping had never been so helpful, she concluded, holding her hands against her burning red cheeks and trying to calm her heart._

* * *

When she finally woke up properly, she had a major head-ache. Thinking about her dream, vision, memory or _whatever it was_, was hurting her head. And as always these flashes always had that same person. Just who is he? Or more specifically, who exactly is he to her? As soon as her headache subsided, she was somehow tackled in a hug.

"SAKURA-CHAN! You're awake!" The voice squealed in her ear. The impact on of the hug nearly had her falling off the bed, but thanks to reflexes she managed to save herself from a bad fall. When Sakura finally got her bearings, she noticed the woman hugging her as the buxom strawberry blonde woman she saw when she was in-between reality and sleep. It came to her that this kind of scenario was a familiar one, but she was not sure how.

When the woman finally let got off her, she seemed to notice the confused look that Sakura wore on her face.

"Ne, Sakura-chan, you remember me, right?" The woman pointed to herself. Sakura's silence and apologetic look gave her an answer. She seemed hurt, but Sakura saw how she quickly recovered. She got off the bed and grinned to the bed-ridden Sakura.

"Let me introduce myself then, I am Matsumoto Rangiku. You can call me Ran-chan!" Sakura nodded timidly, before testing the name out. The woman squealed again, gushing on how cute Sakura was and hugging her again to her ample chest.

"Matsumoto, stop harassing the girl," a cold voice said, resounding around the room. This voice, Sakura knew it, someway and somehow. Else, why would her body decide to betray her? She knew she was sprouting a small blush and she quickly tried to suppress it before it could turn any worse. Her body now had automatically turned to the source of the voice. And then she was mesmerized, it was the person from her _whatever it was_. He was even more good-looking now than ever, in her opinion; his hair, his scowl, his endearing glare, his beautiful turquoise eyes. Those eyes she could stare at forever. She was luckily awoken from her stupor when Rangiku-san—Ran-chan— addressed the male with the icy glare.

"But, taicho!" The older woman whined, and this had caused Sakura to let out a giggle. And now, the attention of these two people, were on her.

"Oh, Sakura-chan! I'll introduce you to taicho! Sakura, meet Toshiro-taicho!"

"That's Hitsugaya-taicho to you!"

Sakura giggled some more at these two strangers antics. Suddenly, Rangiku stood up, with a devious glint in her eyes. She mentioned something about informing a Unohana Retsu-taicho about Sakura's condition and left Sakura ad her icy taicho behind. There was a somewhat awkward silence left in their wake and it only broke when someone had finally built up enough confidence to speak up.

"…So you really can't remember?"

"I'm so sorry, Hitsugaya-taicho," He flinched here and hurt had crossed his eyes, but she didn't seem to notice at all. "I don't even know where I am, or how I got here exactly. I want to go home," And as those words tumbled from her mouth, she felt that they were empty, that the word home was not described at all for Konoha at all.

The flashes of hurt and pain still not registered by Sakura flitting through this captain's eyes, he closed them trying to regain composure. Sure, it hurt him that she couldn't remember. Remember him. But he tried putting himself in her shoes, and tried feeling how confused she must have been. He sat down tiredly, at the end of her bed. He hadn't a wink of sleep knowing that Sakura, his Sakura was back and at arm's length where he could just hold her and never let go. Not again. And that she may not and may never, remember him at all.

He would help; she deserved that much in return for all she's done for him. And so he would begin by answering her questions. He explained that she was in Sereitei or Soul Soceity, a place where all souls had to go once they died in the physical world. He told her that she had been taken out of the shinobi world under orders of Sou-taicho, who had finally located her after 16 years of endless searching when she had released an indefinite amount of reiatsu (apparently that strange energy she possessed). He had to explain the Gotei 13 and the division of the guards and their jobs as soul reapers or shinigami, and he was a captain himself of the 10th division. He explained with the patience of a saint, about zanpakutous and told her that she too was a shinigami and had her own zanpakutou (Unsurprisingly, her zanpakutou was that katana Kakashi-sensei had given her…). He explained that she was ranked as a 3rd seat, the 3rd strongest shinigami in their division and worked under him, in the 10th division. And she finally asked the topic he dreaded.

"How did I disappear?" It was an innocent enough question, but Sakura now see the emotions flitting quickly through his eyes. She could see how it pained him to talk about it, and quickly regretted ever asking the question. But another important question came up: If he was so hurt about this subject, what exactly was their relationship?

Before he could give her an answer, the door opened and in came in Unohana Retsu, Captain of the 4th Division, her lieutenant, Isane and Rangiku. Unohana smiled softly at Sakura and asked if she could do a check up on Sakura.

"Oh, no, I can do that myself! It's not a problem!" Sakura said, a green glow surrounding her hand as she checked herself for any sort of injuries which she may have sustained. The whole room grew quiet, and she realized in an instant that everyone was staring at her. She blushed accordingly.

"…That is quite fascinating, Haruno-san, maybe you'd like to come back one day and show me this ability of yours up close?" The captain of the 4th said kindly to Sakura. She nodded shyly in response. "But on a side-note, Sou-taicho would like to meet you now, Haruno-san, since you are up and about and clearly uninjured'" The kindly woman continued and smiled.

* * *

Later, Sakura coming out of the 1st division hall was bombarded with so many questions by her _friends_. Friends she found guilty she could not remember, as they clearly remembered her. There was obviously her captain (she was still getting used to this), and Ran-chan, then there was Kira-san, Hisagi-san, Abarai-san, Kuchiki Rukia-san (who somehow appeared after the meeting finished) and Hinamori-san. She smiled, trying to answer any and all questions, but she felt like she was drowning.

That was until her savior came in the form of her captain.

"Keep your questions for another day; can't you see this is exhausting her? She's in dire need of rest and the lot of you aren't helping at all," he reprimanded them all. The all agreed, albeit sulkily.

"Oh, thank you so much, Hitsugaya-taicho!" He cringed again, but less noticeable now. She carried on, "I don't know what I'd do if you hadn't stepped in just now."

"It's okay, keep your thanks," Toshiro said as he ruffled her hair ('cause, _yes_, he is taller than her) and she pouted in response. It felt so natural to her, yet she felt absolutely guilty not being able to remember…

"Will you be joining us for Hanami tomorrow? Most of the seated officers go out to Rokungai and enjoy themselves," Toshiro asked her, looking away from her for a while.

"Umm, will you be there?" Sakura replied shyly. Where was this coming from?

"I haven't gone in 16 years, it hasn't been the same without y-," He stopped before he finished, but she could tell what he was about to say. "Anyway, I'll go only if you're willing to go."

Feeling a little devious, she asked with a sly grin on her face, "What? As my date?"

"W-what? I mean, I…" He shifted uncomfortably in front of her, trying his best to hide his rosy cheeks. The pink-haired shinigami giggled as a slight blush on her face too, breaking the lapse of silence they fell in.

"What's this? Taicho, you're bringing Sakura-chan to Hanami? How sweet! Sakura-chan, we got to get you a _kimono_!" Rangiku burst out of nowhere, tackling Sakura and Toshiro in a big hug.

"M-Matsumoto, how long have you been there?!"

"Hehehe, long enough," She winked, "So, taicho, taking Sakura as your date, huh?" Toshiro turned slightly red, and turned away from the two giggling girls. He huffed and glared at them when he managed to subdue the blush. Toshiro finally rolled his eyes and looked directly at Sakura. "I'll pick you up tomorrow at your room by 5."

At with that, the 10th division captain was gone. The two giggling women stopped and stared at each other.

"He was serious?!"

"Oh my, Sakura-chan, we really have to find you a _kimono_ now! Taichou hasn't gone to a Hanami festival in a decade and a half. We've got to make you look stunning!" Sakura sighed, resigning herself to getting dragged by Rangiku.

* * *

The next day was so nerve-wrecking and she had absolutely no idea why! (Well, maybe that date with Toshiro… No! She was just joking about that… right?) That day was spent getting re-introduced to her friends, hanging out with them and catching up, but during the whole time, she wouldn't admit it out loud ever, that she had been thinking about that meeting with Toshiro.

By now, she was dressed in that _kimono_ that Rangiku had insisting buying for her. It was a simple turquoise colour (Which greatly reminded her of Toshiro's eyes… Mhmm…) and had lilac and pink flower designs. Her obi was lilac, and the tie was a soft pink. Her hair was up in a messy bun, with a hair ornament sticking out of it. She wore the normal _geta_ and strapped her zanpakutou to her hip. She wasn't about to go out defenseless, not when her new-old friends had been giving her a reviewing lesson on hollows and bad spirits!

Sakura had forgone using any make-up at all and at the moment, was just waiting for it to reach 5. She paced nervously around her room, with the same question repeating itself in her head: Why the heck was she so nervous? Out of nowhere, she heard a knock resound through her room. Oh, wow, that was him now!

She rushed to the door, opening it slowly though, to make it seem as if she weren't _that _excited (Which she actually was) and stared at the handsome man in front of her. Toshiro dressed in a simple _yukata_, a lilac coloured one. He had his zanpakutou tucked to his side, hanging loosely but in an easy location if ever he needed to pull it out. Yet somehow, that made him all the more attractive. Sakura blushed prettily before dragging her eyes up to his face. The emotion she saw in his eyes surprised her; awe.

"You look beautiful," he said softly, a pink hue dusting his cheeks. He held his arm for her to take and she gladly accepted it, her heart racing. They made their way out the huge gates that separated Sereitei and Rokungai and made the journey towards the festival. She had noticed numerous shinigami around the districts and at one point had even spotted Rangiku joining in in a drinking contest.

Once the pair had finally reached the edge of the district, the place where they would be viewing the flowers bloom. Toshiro had told her to stay close, as he needed to meet with some people before the festival would go into full bloom for the night festivities. He seemed reluctant to leave her alone, but knew she would be easily bored staying with him. And Sakura being Sakura hadn't bothered listening to him and went wandering around anyway. Her wandering feet had brought her up to the top of a hill, where a lone tree sat by itself. She walked to the tree slowly, admiring the sunset just behind the tree. As Sakura laid her hands on the tree trunk, she blanked out one more time.

* * *

_The sky was dark and something terrible was happening, happening on her favorite day of the year, on Hanami. She had gone up the hill to watch the sunset, but instead she came across a dark sinister presence. She instinctively reached out for her Sakura-hime and pulled her zanpakutou out of it sheath. She felt a foreboding feeling creep up on her but she didn't bother acknowledging it._

_Her sharp eyes kept searching for the source of this unease, calculating possibilities in her head. _

"_Haruno! What are you doing up here by yourself?" A voice that would usually bring her comfort asked her, but not today. Something about the atmosphere wouldn't allow her to calm down at all._

"_Toshiro-kun! There's something wrong about this place. I can feel a negative energy source…" Toshiro had now reached Sakura and was standing closely next to her, unsheathing Hyourinmaru also scanning for a threat. _

_One moment, they had been quietly scanning for a threat, and the next, Sakura was screaming and holding on to him for dear life. Behind Sakura was a huge vortex of dark energy. As quick as he could, he tabbed Hyourinmaru into the ground and held onto Sakura tighter with his left arm. Sakura had her arms circled around Toshiro's neck, trying her best not to let her Sakura-hime cut Toshiro accidentally but her hold was loosening the more the vortex pulled at her. Toshiro tried getting her back on her feet but the force the vortex was pulling at was making it impossible. _

_They had both cried out for help, but they were too far away for anyone to hear their screams of help. The hill was further away from the festival after all. Their efforts were futile. By now, Sakura had tears running down her face. _

"_Toshiro-kun, I don't know how much longer I can hold on…" She was sobbing now._

"_Don't you dare let go! Don't you let go, Haruno!" A strangled sob escaped the pink-haired shinigami._

"_Even at a time like this you still call me Haruno, its Sakura. Haruno makes me feel old, this'll teach you," And with that, she was kissing him, Hitsugaya Toshiro, smack dab on the lips. Sakura poured out her emotions into that kiss; her love, her annoyance, her fear. She gave that kiss her everything as it was probably the last kiss she'd ever give him. The man she loved._

_The kiss had given Toshiro such a shock that his hold had loosened a tad bit. And Sakura was flying toward that vortex again. He had managed to grab her hand, but barely. _

"_Toshiro-kun, don't cry," At Sakura's statement, he realized with a start that he was, in fact crying._

"_Don't you let go of my hand, do you hear me?"_

_A stronger tug had him clinging tighter to Hyourinmaru and causing a sharp pain in his arm, the one he used to hold onto Sakura._

"_Sakura-hime!" Sakura screamed out alarmed, Toshiro looked up sharply to see Sakura's Zanpakutou flying out of her hand into the vortex. He could feel Sakura's hand slipping out of his. Anytime soon, she could…_

"_Toshiro-kun, Toshiro-kun, look at me. I need you to know, that whatever happens here isn't your fault—"_

"_Sakura! Stop, don't talk like that!"_

"_Heh, you finally called me Sakura," she smiled sadly, "You were and always will be my most precious person, Toshiro-kun. I care for you so much, I could never bare to see go down with me,"_

"_Don't you dare, Sak—"_

"_Good-bye, Toshiro-taicho, I love you."_

_Then she let go and went spiraling into that horrible vortex of negative energy._

* * *

Sakura slumped against the tree, tears falling silently. Her Toshiro-kun, suffering so much, for 16 God-damned years thinking she died. The sudden memories rushed into her, causing more tears to fall the more she recalled the sweet moments she had with the person she loved.

"Sakura? Are you there?!" She could hear Toshiro frantically looking for her. She understood now, since this was the spot he had lost her exactly 16 years ago. She tried to speak, she did, but her voice had failed her now.

"Sakura?" Toshiro asked her softly. "Are you crying?" He asked when he was behind her. She turned her head towards him, slowly taking in his disheveled form, probably from searching for her.

"This is where you first called me Sakura," her lip was quivering now, "Toshiro-kun."

Toshiro had a look of hope mixed in with a bit sorrow on his face as blurted the question that first came to mind. It would all depend on this question.

"You remember me, Sakura?" She stared at him in the eye, before nodding a 'yes'. That was all it took for her to be engulfed by his arms being surrounded by his presence. She clutched on to his _yukata_, crying her eyes out and he was running his right hand through her hair, while his left arm was around her waist keeping them together. He was whispering calming words into her ear until all her tears had stopped. And he just held her like that for what seemed like hours.

And then, Sakura was apologizing. The words coming out uncontrollable and tears wanted to leak out her eyes again. This time, Toshiro cupped her cheek, so she would look at him. He had a soft look on his face, as he leaned in and kissed the stray tears that ran down her cheek. Then he kissed her forehead, then her nose and finally her lips. This kiss was much different than the kiss they shared 16 years ago. Where that one seemed a more good-bye kiss, this one seemed to last forever. Sakura felt she belonged nowhere else but here, in Toshiro's arms, getting kissed by him senseless. She was home. She closed her eyes and began responding to the kiss and she swears she was in eternal bliss!

When they did break from the kiss, Sakura had a dazed look in her eyes and Toshiro had a lazy smirk plastered on his face. He leaned his forehead against hers and stared her right in the eyes.

"That night, 16 years ago, you told me something which I should have told you first," he began. Sakura 'hmm-ed' in response, still dazed by the kiss he had given her.

"I'm never ever letting you go, Sakura, never again will I let you slip through my hands, literally and metaphorically, ever again, because, Haruno Sakura, I love you," That really snapped her out her dreamscape. She couldn't believe it. Her Toshiro loved her! Her!

"I love you too, Toshiro-kun!" Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again (Just to make sure this was all real and not her day-dream. God knows how many she's had…!) and she knew it wasn't a dream when he snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him. When they broke apart this time, Sakura was so surprised she let out a small 'eep' when she felt herself getting carried in a princess carry by her captain. He had started his way walking down the hill and back towards the Hanami festival.

"Toshiro-kun, put me down! I can walk just fine you know?"

"Yeah, I know. This is just to make up for those 16 years you were gone, you know," He shrugged carelessly.

"Fine, but you have to make up for all the missed hugs and kisses too!" Sakura pouted, pink tinting her cheeks as she looked anywhere but Toshiro. His chuckle returned her attention back towards him. She threw him a questioning look.

"Way ahead of you," The white-haired shinigami replied, as he swooped down and planted a chaste kiss on Sakura's lips. She stared wide-eyed at him, not expecting him to comply so easily, but blushed when she noticed a certain look in his eyes, a promise, which practically screamed that he would be making good and would carry out what was requested of him.

"By the way, Sakura…"

"Yes?"

"Don't ever call me 'Taicho' again, I regret asking you to call me that."

"What? why?"

"…It sounds creepy,"

"Toshiro-kun!" She smacked him over the head, using a mock angry tone and the two were laughing happily making their way back to the Hanami festival in no hurry, enjoying the time they had together and making up for all the time they lost.

**The End.**

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**Please Read and Review, people! Tell me what you all think about this... Feel free to comment on any mistakes I made or perhaps if I used something in the wrong context. ****I'll love you all forever~! Mwah!**

**xx, Pantherlily86**


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